Serpientes
by Xenoglossy
Summary: Three people Orochimaru seduced, and one he didn't. OroJira, OroTsu, OroKabu, OroSasu.


**Serpientes**  
_Cephied Variable_

* * *

Seducing Jiraiya was a matter of personal amusement. Just another thing to hold over his team-mate's head next time the argued; another fight he'd won. It was a strictly strategic

"I like women." Jiraiya insisted in his haughty, teenage way. He crossed his arms defiantly.

"You're a coward." Orochimaru replied calmly,

But it wasn't a violent, anger-frought kiss like Orochimaru might have expected. Jiraiya kissed him like he would kiss a woman. He held him _delicately_ which, Orochimaru reflected, was definitely more embarassing in the long run.

* * *

Tsunade plied herself with liquor for a full day and night after Dan died until the owner of the bar lodged a formal complaint with the Hokage. Jiraiya shuffled his feet and muttered sullenly at the idea of picking her up. There was an unspoken acknowledgment that whichever one of them went to retrieve her would invariably end up in bed with her. Jiraiya was sentimental and a romantic- he wasn't willing to sleep with Tsunade and have it mean nothing.

Orochimaru went instead.

They weren't two steps into her room when she slammed him up against the door and kissed him sloppily, "I'm so glad it wasn't Jiraiya," she slurred against his lips.

He was fully dressed when she woke in the morning, blinking against the mid-noon sunlight and groaning as she sat up in bed, naked and disheveled. Her gaze met Orochimaru's, flickering, and for a moment she looked _terrified_.

"You're pathetic." Orochimaru informed her coldly before leaving.

He heard something hard hit the closed door and shatter behind him. Tsunade left the village within the week.

* * *

Kabuto tried to kill him in the middle of the day which is how Orochimaru knew it was Sasori's doing. He knocked the boy unconcious, carried him like a rag doll to the basement and tied him to a chair. Sasori's mental locks were absurdly easy to unravel, which was unusually careless of the Sand nin. Either he'd over-estimated the efficiency of his assassin-spy or Orochimaru was being mocked.

When Kabuto's eyes finally fluttered open, Orochimaru crossed his arms and said: "You can't kill me, so don't try if I untie you."

"I'm not stupid." the boy retorted calmly, his voice only a little shaky.

When he was free, Kabuto rubbed his thin wrists sorely and then looked up, studying Orochimaru with an intensely calculating gaze- there was a keen intellect in those eyes and a fierceness that deserved admiration. _Sasori, Sasori_, Orochimaru chastised silently, _You've surely wasted this boy on such a petty task. Thank you for the lovely gift._

The boy boldly thread his fingers into Orochimaru's thick hair and yanked the older ninja down roughly, kissing him. When he pulled away, Orochimaru chuckled in the back of his throat and asked: "Are you certan about that, Kabuto Yakushi?"

Kabuto smiled back and Orochimaru liked the way he faked innocence, "If it's what I must do to survive."

Orochimaru didn't trust him for a moment, which was probably why he kissed him again.

* * *

"Why don't you just _do_ it?" Sasuke demanded impatiently, pinning a kunai to the wall an inch to the left of his mentor's head.

Orochimaru's lips curved into a smile and he remarked, innocently, "I surely have no idea what you're talking about, Sasuke-kun."

"I'm not stupid. Stop looking at me like that and just get it over with."

"Like what, Sasuke-kun?"

Bravely, the boy stalked towards where he sat, standing so close as to practically _straddle_ him. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow in honest surprise and leaned back, waiting patiently for Sasuke's reply.

"Like you look at Kabuto," the young ninja elaborated, his voice going low and flat in what might have been an unintentional imitation of his brother, "_Like you want to touch me_. So why don't you?"

It was true that Orochimaru didn't touch Sasuke often. There was too much _delicacy_ in the way the boy twitched everytime a hand was settled on his shoulder; the way he shuddered when a finger brushed under his chin. It was meant to be savoured. There was more satisfaction in observation. Sasuke's blood often seemed to be trembling out of his veins. The tension in his movements was rife with unacknowledged frustration. There were names that would halt his movement if timed correctly and it was _that_ uncertainty that Orochimaru derived the most pleasure from.

"Because you are not like Kabuto, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru murmured, gently pulling Sasuke towards him, "To him, this is all means to an end. As much as you'd like me to believe, you are different. You are not-" the noise that came from Sasuke's throat as Orochimaru pressed his lips to the curse seal was shocked, but not _surprised_, "- completely unaffected."

Sasuke didn't struggle exactly, but he did twist and shove one of his arms between them. His face was an impressive attempt at cold indifference.

"I'd need to know who's picture would be in your mind if I touched you," Orochimaru continued casually, slipping a hand up Sasuke's shirt and tracing his spine lazily, "Certainly not that kunouchi- the one with the flower name. But I suppose it's possible you'd think of your teacher. That's only-" he curled his tongue under Sasuke's ear and hissed, "- _natural_."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, his chest heaving thickly. These actions betrayed his carefully composed face- he was attempting to control his breathing. _Excellent_.

"It's almost obvious that you'd think of the Uzumaki boy," Orochimaru snickered, "Your self appointed _savior_. How much of that do you believe?"

"None of it," Sasuke breathed the lie easily and arched a little into the touch.

"It's too obvious," Orochimaru mused, pulling back and tipping Sasuke's face up, his knuckles under the boy's chin, "I know the way you've been shrinking your heart. There's only room left for one person in there, Sasuke-kun." and here he gripped Sasuke's chin firmly in his hand, enjoying the way the boy's eyes went wild and dark all at once, "No, you'd think of your _brother_."

Sasuke finally pushed away, his forceful shove more like an ill-placed blow. Orochimaru let him go, still laughing.

* * *

The next time Orochimaru touched him, Sasuke broke his wrist.

fin.


End file.
